Two-time world 400 metre hurdles champion Jana Rawlinson wants to quit Australia and represent Great Britain, an Australian television station reported yesterday.

The Nine Network claims Rawlinson, who is married to former British athlete Chris Rawlinson, has approached UK athletics officials about switching allegiances in time for the 2012 London Olympics.

A spokesman for the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) told Channel Nine that the committee had never prevented athletes from changing countries and would consider any request.

Rawlinson, who won gold medals at the 2003 and 2007 World Championships, has had a difficult relationship with the Australian public.

She was nicknamed "Drama Jana" at the 2004 Athens Olympics when, after undergoing knee surgery a week before the Games, she dramatically threw away her crutches in front of the media and declared herself fit to compete.

Rawlinson, known as Jana Pittman before her marriage, also had a high-profile feud with fellow athlete Tamsyn Lewis, which led to some parts of the media publicly backing Lewis over Rawlinson.

An Australian men's magazine at the time featured Lewis in a bikini and a front cover saying "It's alright Tam, we don't like Jana Pittman either".